Islamic Assessment of the Effects of Alcoholism on the Muslim Drunkards in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue I, January 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Islamic Assessment of the Effects of Alcoholism on the Muslim Drunkards in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Dr. Abdullahi Adamu Sulaiman, Dr. Aliyu Umar, Dr. Yahya Sulaiman
Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract: Alcohol is undoubtedly harmful and adversely affects the mind and the body. It beclouds the mind, causes diseases, wastes money and destroys individuals, families and communities. Researchers have proven that there is a strong link between alcohol and gambling. Alcohol creates enmity and hatred between people, prevents them from remembering Allah (SWT) and distracts them from praying, and calls them to participate in unlawful relationships. The aim of this study is eliminate or reduce to the barest minimum the intake of alcohol in Nasarawa State particularly among the Muslim youth. The study asks the following questions: what is the perception, extent of consumption, effects and the remedy to alcohol consumption among the Muslim drunkards in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Consequently, with problems of such magnitude, it is clear that even the most effective treatment programs for alcohol dependence cannot possibly constitute an adequate response. The methodology of the study is the use of questionnaires to collect data. Moreover, treatment approaches have had only limited success in this field, and there is much concern at present about their cost-effectiveness even when they are successful. In the light of all these considerations and being the first study ever conducted that covers the whole Nasarawa state in Nigeria, it appears inescapable that the major focus of efforts to reduce alcohol related problems must be on the area of primary prevention which had been unequivocally advocated by Islam over 1400 years ago.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Arabic word Khamr signifies any alcoholic drink which causes intoxication with great harmful effects on individual (his/her mind, health, religion and work); family (neglecting family needs, unfulfilled obligations to family members: wife and children) and society/nation (spiritual, material and moral evils) that proliferate due to widespread of its consumption (Al-Qadarawi, 5: 1969). Alcohol and Islam is a relatively understudied topic in Nigeria generally and in Nasarawa State in particular, although alcohol abuse is a significant social problem both in Muslim majority countries and among Muslim minorities. Questions of religious identity as they relate to food and drink prescriptions and proscriptions also make alcohol and Islam a worthwhile topic. This article offers a general overview of alcohol and Islam. It briefly introduces alcohol and Islam in history; examines the main Islamic religious sources (the Quran, the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad, and Islamic law); analyzes World Health Organization statistics on contemporary patterns of abstention and alcohol consumption in Muslim majority countries; reviews the social science literature on alcohol studies in Muslim settings. Alcohol according to Larouse is “a colorless, volatile, intoxicating, inflammable liquid obtained commercially by distilling wine or other fermented liquors and by the hydration of ethylene” (Larousse, 20: 1997). It is the use of “any fermented juice of grape, barley, dates, honey or any other thing which may make one intoxicated after

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